Deep Roots
by nlblake
Summary: Modern day soccer AU. Uprooted and replanted by his grandmother, Naruto will have to decide what is more important, following the tradition of his mother's family or living like his father, following his heart.


**Disclaimer: **not mine

Warnings: modern day AU, soccer, possible male/male(...because if there is any romance you can bet on it being slash)

What can I say? My muse refused to let me sleep in peace till she got it out of her system, so we'll just have to suffer together, ne? ;-)

I'm going to take some liberties regarding ages, places, schools, nationalities, ect. in this story. I will try to keep the characters as IC as possible, but please don't flame me because I'm taking certain artistic liberties with other things.

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**Chapter 1**

**A New World, A New Life?**

The airport was full of rushing, similar looking people, announcements droning non-stop in a language he had already half-forgotten and the air conditioning kept the big, wide halls near an uncomfortable 0 °C.

Naruto stifled a sigh and rubbed his naked arms nervously. If he remembered next to nothing of the spoken language, the weird scribbles they used to sign made no more sense to him than the drunken lines on the drawing of a kindergartener.

He didn't have any baggage but the small sports bag in his left hand with him. His grandmother had already flown ahead of him to ensure that the move had been executed flawlessly and to handle all necessary papers.

His almond shaped, deep azure eyes took another sweep of his surroundings.

"Blonde hair should stand out like a beacon, here. Were the hell is she?" he muttered, agitation causing his voice to sound harsh and unfriendly.

He couldn't help it. People had been outright staring at him since he left the plane and entered this hall of dark haired, busy, friendly smiling clones. He was standing out like a sour thumb.

"There you are brat!" boomed a white haired older man from right behind the blond, causing Naruto to whirl around and yell: "Super pervert?! What the hell are you doing here? And where the hell is that damn old hag?"

Of course the noise attracted even more curious stares and high pitched chatter from the onlookers.

The old man laid a friendly arm around Naruto's left shoulder and started to steer the glaring blond towards the exit.

"Tsunade-hime had to take care of an emergency operation at the hospital. She said she might be back before dinner, but it might easily take as long as midnight. I am under strict orders to safely deposit you at your house, where she's left you further instructions, a new mobile phone and some money for take-out dinner."

Naruto's glare just grew fiercer, its intensity nearly incinerating the asphalt beneath his feet.

"Now, now, don't be like that, Naruto. I can understand how painful it must be to be stood up for a date with a babe like Tsunade, but you have to look at it as a great chance to get to know even hotter women. Nothing can soften the heart of a woman like cute children and a sob story." the white haired man laughed jovially, waving merrily at the women who watched him and his young charge with wide eyes.

Politely the small group of young women smiled back.

"If even one single girl starts to pester me because of you, old pervert, I'll make sure you'll be the next emergency Tsunade has to take care of." Naruto growled out between tightly clenched lips.

"You are no fun, kid. No fun at all. I should rightly leave you here, stranded in this alien country without any way to ask for help or directions, without any means to pay for even a single call." the older man retorted with a teasing grin.

"Thanks for reminding me."

* * *

Jiraiya could kick himself for his idiotic blunder. Since his insensitive remark about leaving Naruto helplessly stranded, the youth hadn't said a single word.

It was disconcerting to see the usually lively and upbeat boy so sullen.

Carefully steering the car through the busy highways, he questioned Tsunade's decision to move back to her homeland once again.

Tsunade was one of the most renowned medics worldwide; any hospital would have welcomed her with open arms. Uprooting the boy in his last year of school and forcing him to move with her to a country which spoken language he didn't even command was cruel.

Jiraiya had long suspected Tsunade of having ulterior, less acceptable reasons for the move. The stubborn woman probably wanted to make sure there was no temptation for the boy to let family tradition be tradition and follow in his father's footsteps.

No matter how good her intentions for her only grandchild were, he was afraid they would break the amiable relationship between those two irreparably.

Anyone could see that Naruto was a free spirit who needed space to open his wings. Jiraiya had the doomed feeling that the boy only wanted to become a medic out of a sense of duty, not because he really wanted to do so.

Well, it was his own fault for not taking the child in when his son had died. As Tsunade was so fond to tell him, he had no business interfering in the boy's upbringing now.

Especially since being near Naruto was still so very painful for him. The boy was the spitting image of his father; even their temper was similar in nature.

Well, he would make sure to let the boy know he could come to him any time, after all the blond was 17, legally able to make his own decisions about housing, schooling and finances.

* * *

The drive had taken nearly two hours and Naruto was very glad to finally stand in front of his new home.

The house was of moderate size in western style, with a huge garden and huge windows on every floor. It looked friendly enough.

He had been half-afraid to find himself in a traditional Japanese house. Ever since getting the position as chief medic in Konoha hospital, his grandmother had become increasingly strict about proper etiquette and following customs.

For the first time in the history of their living together Tsunade had disregarded her grandson's uneasiness regarding her abrupt insistence on proper conduct, speech and appearance.

She even forced him to wear a Kimono and ignored anything he said unless he spoke Japanese. It had been hell.

Still, the western style of the house bid the assumption that she had finally relented somewhat. If it meant he would have to endure attending a Japanese private school, so be it.

Without turning back to Jiraiya, he opened the door, muttering a quick good-bye: "Thanks for the ride, old pervert. See ya!"

Naruto quickly shut the door behind him and leaned his back against it, his eyes closed to suppress any unwelcome tears.

When the loud noise of the car's engine started up again and finally disappeared in the distance, he cautiously opened them again. It seemed like the entrance hall was pure Japanese despite the western style.

Sighing deeply, he bent down to take off his trainers, setting them meticulously away on the shoe rack to his right and put on one of the numerous pairs of neatly arrayed slippers that stood beneath the step that would lead into the inner parts of the house. The pair he chose was pale green and comfortable enough fro someone who had never bothered with slippers before.

First he investigated the rooms on the ground floor, happily noting that the kitchen was big and well stocked with Ramen and the living room housed the most modern TV station he had ever seen. It was a real shame that he wouldn't be able to actually enjoy it. He didn't even understand half of what the people around him said when they spoke Japanese.

Tsunade was convinced that was his fault, too. After all, Naruto had not had any problems picking up English and German well enough to get by after only a couple weeks of language lessons and another couple of weeks of actually living in the respective country. The only reason for him not having picked up Japanese therefore had to be that he didn't really want to learn it and was difficult on purpose.

He wasn't, but that didn't stop her enrolling him in a Japanese school to show him that she wasn't impressed with his little "teenage rebellion" as she called it.

The rooms on the first floor were just as impressive. There were two bedrooms, one bearing a sign on its door with Naruto's name on it, one big bathroom, one big library with several desks and a couple of couches and a clothes closet, filled with towels and the like.

Naruto was delighted to discover that his bedroom had its own adjoined bathroom of moderate size. At least he wouldn't have to worry about being late in the mornings because of Tsunade's endless primping in the bathroom.

Still, his bedroom lacked warmth and personality. There wasn't even a bed, just a rolled out futon on the left side of the room, next to the huge oak desk. The only other furniture was a big dark wardrobe and a book shelf that was filled with what he surmised to be his schoolbooks.

Naruto felt like the walls were slowly closing in on him.

Unable to stand being in the depressing room any longer, the blond ran back downstairs, grabbing his set of keys, the money and the mobile phone that he had found on the kitchen table and left. It was still early afternoon and his address stood on a sign that was attached to his house keys and his mobile phone. If he got lost he only had to find a taxi and show the driver the address.

* * *

TBC 


End file.
